A new report shows the extent of the housing crisis across the Illawarra, with Wollongong and Shellharbour ranking in the top 10 worst affected areas in regional NSW.
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The report, prepared for the housing policy organisation Shelter NSW, also highlights the high level or mortgage stress across the entire Illawarra and shows there are now just under 3000 households on the public housing wait list.
The report looked a seven indicators to produce an index to reflect housing need across regional NSW, with each region given a score out of ten for each indicator and then a total score.
Compared to regional LGAs across the state, Shellharbour got the fourth highest score (equal to Coffs, Maitland and Tweed) and Wollongong ranked ninth for having high housing needs.
The equal worst scores were given to Byron and the Central Coast.
In Wollongong more than half of all low income households were struggling to pay their mortgage, the report showed, giving the city one of the highest rates of mortgage stress in regional NSW.
It also scored badly for the number of people on the public housing wait list, with 2263 households now waiting for a home, despite having the highest proportion of social housing of any regional local government area in NSW.
The Shelter NSW report also pointed to a future housing nightmare for the city, with the population projected to increase by 26 per cent by 2041.
While all age groups will grow, a large proportion of growth will be outside the working age groups, the report says, with the number of people aged over 85 nearly doubling in that time.
Shellharbour's high rank on the regional list was influenced by the high proportion of mortgagee households (37 per cent), and a large number of low-income household experiencing mortgage stress (42 per cent).
Additionally, 72 per cent of the low income rental households were experiencing rental stress, making a large proportion of people in the LGA susceptible to rising cost pressures due to increased housing demand and changes in interest rates, the report said.
Fortunately, Shellharbour had the fourth highest proportion of social housing of any regional LGA, at 6.5%.
But with more than 600 households on the general wait list, families are still waiting between five to ten years to access a property.
Meantime, in an effort to increase the supply of housing in the city, Wollongong council is looking to hand out $5 million to provide homes for some of the city's lowest income earners in the southern suburbs.
It recently opened an expression of interest process for businesses, organisations and other enterprises to put forward a plan to deliver services to very low through to moderate earners seeking affordable housing.
It is the third time the council has handed out grants for affordable housing, with the Housing Trust and not-for-profit community service organisation Head Start Homes receiving $4.34 million and $1.3 million respectively last year.
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Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
